discussion

I have heard that the weather is extremely variable in this region (one minute nice weather- the next lightening) so I know you can't be too accurate on the weather predictions, but just to help us packing what's *average* attire during mid-August?

I mean will we need mostly tshirts/shorts with heavier clothes for early morning/evenings, or will it be long sleeves and long trousers (pants)? (we would always take 'emergency' rain jackts on a hike anyway but it's just for the 'typical' weather)

I read on the board (cd asked I think on HowardR's trip report) about bugs. Will they just be there during the evening- or throughout the day too? Apart from annoying bites, are the bugs harmful if they bite you?

Curious

Wt ar a y tlk abt?

Cu

Giovanna

I suspect Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park. Haven't been to Yellowstone and the Tetons for years, so can't offer advice, but maybe this will help those who can't decipher the abbreviations. <)

cd

discussion
I am also interested in your weather question. I have asked people in this area when making hotel reservations about what kind of clothes to bring and they all have told me to bring shorts. Unless I hear different, I will bring shorts, long and short sleeve cotton shirts, jeans a sweatshirt and jacket.

gc

Pack one pair of long pants and a fleece. If a cold front comes through, you can expect frost in the morning with temperatures climbing into the 70's and 80's during the day. You could get a snow squall, if youre lucky.

Cheers

drsawyers

Be sure to take a hat and sunscreen. At high altitude the sun can be fierce - there is much less atmosphere to protect you and sunburn is VERY easy to come by.

Regardless of the temperature, I don't like to wear shorts in the mountains because of the possibility of ticks, etc. Also, mosquitoes can be fierce in certain areas (Hayden Valley, Lake) at certain times of the day and year. Don't know how bad they will be right now, but I'd definitely take some DEET.

Yellowstone is such a diverse place that it's difficult to generalize too much.

Curious

Gee, I thought the code letters YNP probably stood for Yosemite National Park.

Codes are sooooooo cute.

C

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thanks for your replies!

HowardR

We just returned on Wednesday, during most of which time there was a heat wave. Now, however, temperatures are more normal for this time of the year. That means that tee shirts and shorts are fine for the daytime, but bring warmer clothes for early morning and the evening hours. Even during the recent heat wave, early-morning temperatures got down to the high 40s, low 50s.
As far as bugs, bring bug spray, but don't get paranoid. Just the normal mosquitos, etc. We weren't that bothered by them. We just sprayed ourselves before starting a hike.
Also, pay heed to the previous suggestion about sunscreen and hats. You'll need both!

bob_brown

Why don't you look at the long range weather forcast? It is available from the Yahoo home page. A high of 81 or 82 and a slow of 40 is forecast for the next week.

Old faithful is about 1,000 feet higher, and would, on the basis of atmospheric expansion, be 3 degrees cooler. That would put the lows in the 38 degree range at night.

bob_brown

OOPS. West Yellowstone is about 100 feet lower than the area around Old Faithful. 6400 feet versus 7400 feet.
I should have been more specific.

discussion

Thanks Bob Brown, we did check this but as it was in Farenheit it's difficult to relate it back to what we are used to- Celsius. I have since learnt that it should be in the high twenties. (I know there's a way of calculating it but I'm happier in Celsius)

Our car temperature guage can convert from Celsius to Farenehet so I've been flicking between the two trying to get a feel for the correlation.

cd

Bob
Glad to hear about The cool nights for sleeping comfort as there is no air conditioning in the Park.

HowardR

Fear not, no matter how warm it gets during the day, it'll definitely be cool enough for sleeping at night!

bob_brown

Here is a handy memory chart I carry in my head to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit.

35 C is 95 F
30 C is 86 F
25 C is 77 F
20 C is 68 F
15 C is 59 F

I wish to argue that when the temperature is about 30 C or 86 F, the rooms in the Old Faithful inn do not cool off at night.
We were there in 3rd week of July, and had a pint sized room in the Old Faithful Inn. It was dreadfully hot in the room and there was no way we could cool it off. We even tried leaving the door open for a while, but that just let in hot air from the hallway.
The temperature at night went to about 60, but little of that air was entering my room.
I find some of the rooms at Old Faithful Inn to be perfectly dreadful.

And beware the shower stalls. Mine had a tension held rod for the shower curtain. When I pushed the curtain back, the rod fell and hit me in the head. When I told the young lady at the desk about the incident, she seemed concerned that I had signed the bill properly.
I guess she figured that if I was hit hard enough I might not have signed the right name. Other than that, there was no evidence of concern.

So what if another guest got conked. Happens all the time.

discussion

Thanks Bob Brown, will try to commit this to memory too. Happily am in Snow Lodge- hope this is better.
lol TonyMcclure- note to self, must leave black socks at home, better pack the tennis shoes to blend in better with natives